One More Time.

This semester has been probably the most academically challenging one I've had since entering college nearly four years ago. For me, stress levels are directly proportionate to the amount of numbing daydreams that take me minutes to awake from. Hence, accept my apologies if you've been affected, at times, from my dreamlike neglect as I attempt to read all the books, finish all the papers, and whatever else my major creates to throw at me.

When my whole mental capacity is not overwhelmed with deadlines, I find that it is often checking its luggage, asking the stewardess if there are any first class seats available, and trying to sneak some dairy products through customs. It is flying back to Xia Da, to Xiamen, to Fujian, to China, and its good to permit the flood of memories and feelings of last year to permeate my being for those few surreal minutes.

My semester is lived in reference of the events of a year ago: "This time last year we took an impromptu trip to Chongwu... This time last year we rented bikes and got lost and persuaded taxi drivers to take us and our bikes back to the rental before it closed... This time last year I couldn't find a webcam that worked in the internet cafe, for all were taken by the buddhist monks of Nanputuo," and so on, and on, and on.

As Thanksgiving is quickly approaching, my thoughts are called back to our hodgepodge, makeshift celebration. Although with family and relatives this year in a more traditional setting, 12 months ago this November 27th will be the standard to which all Turkey Days will be measured against.

China,
You still have part of me. Please don't let go. I need you to hold on.

Reacclimating.

To whomever it may concern,

I arrived home in Arkansas on December 22nd in the late evening. The sight of my family and girlfriend waiting for me at the airport gave me a feeling that I will not soon forget. As I stepped outside, my baggage draped over me, donning my custom fitted suit, the bitter and cold mid-American wind hit my face, freezing the sweat that had almost constantly been perspiring from me for the last three and a half months. And i stood there, and it was good to be home. With people I love. With menus I can fully read. With things I recognize and understand.... and I was deeply saddened. My adventure was finished. My journey had ended. And i wanted to jump back on that plane and flee to Xiamen, to go back to where life was exciting and unpredictable. Where bikes and mopeds ruled the roads instead of F-150s and suburbans. To go back to where I changed into the man that I am further becoming. To a place where God was real and evident. To where friends would hug and welcome me "home."

And I'm still struggling with this. It is hard to be here. It is strange to have to pay attention to other people's conversations that are sitting across the room. My bowels are still confused. I want to eat jaozi and I can't. No place is close enough to walk to. And part of me really hates it here.

And God is still faithful, and He is still compassionate. And He will lead me along the path of reacclimation in this place. And I trust that these frustrations that are quite extreme will gradually subside into normalcy again over time. But other things will continue to live on with me for the remainder of my days. The friends I now have will always be. The staunch smells and serenely beautiful scenes, the earthy conversations and realizations of truth, the excitements of life and its frustrations: these have eternally impacted who I am and will proceed in doing so for the rest of my life. And for this, I am so grateful. China Fall 2008, thanks.

-丁哥

Thanksgiving, or something along those lines.

It's been an eventful week.

Aunt Janet decided to come across the world to visit me while over her week off from teaching, so we've been visiting a lot of her old friends and meeting some new ones in the process. It's been fun to see and hear about how Xiamen and China has changed over the last 20 years, for both the better and the worse.

On Wednesday night (and shown) Leo, I, Spino, Perry, Tim, Jacob, and Matt decided to go camping on Gulanyu island. None of our Chinese friends had ever done such a thing, so it was an experience to go with them. These guys had also never had the pleasure of eating the staple camping food: S'mores.

After attempting futilly to explain what these melted pieces of goodness were, and finally getting across the humor of its name(you want s'more smores?), "chocolate," strawberry marshmallows, and buttery cookies combined to make the culinary combo. Leo tried the first one and answered, "I'm so confused...."

It was much colder than we realized. We had no tents and two blankets to split between the seven of us. We didn't sleep very much. Bamboo suffices as firewood, but it pops violently and burns really really fast.

In the morning we made our way back to XiaDa, but not before Matt and I stopped by Mai Dan Lao for an exceptional breakfast.

Janet knew some people through her school that were affiliated with an orphanage in town, so she and I went and visited it. They work mainly with the handicapped children who will probably not be adopted. It is a really great thing they are doing. Remind me to tell you more about it.

Janet, with Mom's help, also managed to bring the materials for an authentic Pumpkin pie, which she made and gave to me on my birthday. It was really great.
Our Thanksgiving celebration was a hodgepodge of Western fast food and Chinese dishes, which, combined with our team that has gotten pretty close over the past months, it was a really great and fun evening. After dinner and a birthday cake we watched Elf and listened to Christmas music.

Today Janet, I, Jeanette, Matt, Dan, and Nate managed to get a personal ride(thanks to Janet's former student, now business owner) to Yongding, a town with Hakka ethnic minority rounhouses. Many were build during the Ming dynasty and are still used. Think about a three-story circular house with an open courtyard made completely out of wood and you might get something close to the Hakka houses.Janet leaves tomorrow afternoon for home. We're going to the First Protestant Church in China(in Xiamen) tomorrow morning before she departs.

Its impossible to escape the influence of history, for everything we do will forever be apart of it.

Xi'an - 西安 - "Western Peace"

I apologize for slacking on my updates-

We've been on our "trek" for about a week now, visiting Shanghai, Beijing, and arriving in Xi'an today. These cities all have a different feel to them - Shanghai: the whirlwind of the free market and "new China." Beijing - The "center of the world" and pride of the country. Xian - the old capital before Beijing, the central hub of the Silk Road and the port of the West.

We flew from Xiamen to Shanghai and spent a few days there. I found a new hero of Chinese history - Sun Yatsen. Check him out. He had a house in Shanghai and a few guys and I toured it while we were there. Not far down the street was the place where the first Communist Party meeting was, so it was interesting to see these two places in one day.

We took the overnight train to Beijing. Taking trains makes me feel like I'm in the 1800's. I wish we would improve our train system, they're really great. While in Beijing I still felt like I was in "China," just with 15 million people. Hong Kong and Shanghai have a different feel about them. People in Beijing seem to make time for tea, and the older people make time for leisure and community, whether reciting Tang dynasty poems, singing propaganda songs about "the good ole' days," or playing hackysack (they were way better than I). Remind me to tell you about seeing Mao's body.

We traveled last night by another overnight train to Xi'an. This city still has its city wall intact, build in the Ming Dynasty around 600 years ago. Today we went about an hour and a half out of the city to see a Nestorian pagoda(Nestorians came to China around the year 600) and to see the place where Laozi allegedly wrote down his thoughts that later became the "Tao te Jing," one of Daoism's main texts. Both places were majestic and surreal.
Hope you all are doing well. I sure am.

China.

So... I'm in Xiamen, China.

And I'm enjoying my trip more and more with each passing day. I miss you all back at home, and look foward to seeing you when I get back, but I really am loving it here.

There's things that you can only learn by getting away: seeing and thinking about issues from an outsider's perspective allows you to become so much more aware of your own biases and inconsistancies in your thoughts, beliefs, and motives.

China is a perplexing place, And i won't understand it all by the time i get back. This was my goal before coming here for the semester: to see and understand this place that is becoming more and more involved in everyone's lives.

What is happening, however, is that i'm becoming more aware of the mystery and complexities that is China. In the same breath, i'm realizing issues that i never had before. I'm starting to develop a mindset that will hopefully shape my thoughts in a global perspective rather than an American or even Western one.

And this is my goal now. To begin to become aware. To realize that this step will last the remainder of my life. To allow Truth to transform me.

And i think i'm ready.

Quanzhou: Port of the World

This Shaolin temple was awesome to see! It is the home of Southern Shaolin KungFu, and taking pictures with this monk was pretty sweet...

This place had a remarkably different feel than that of Xiamen, even though the cities are only a two hour bus ride away from each other. In Xiamen, honking and motorcycles are not allowed, however, people seem to make up for it in Quanzhou. The frenzy and bustle of this place, though, is only just an echo to the port city that it once was: the greatest and most important on earth.

Whereas the silk road traveled through western China, across deserts with nomadic peoples, the maritime silk road began in Quanzhou. Because of the massive trade happening in this city, people from all over the world made Quanzhou home, bringing their lifestyles, customs, and religion with them. Quanzhou was the melting pot of the world in the early 1400s, having a population of over 1 million people. Meanwhile, Europe was relearning how to tie their shoes after recently emerging from the dark ages. Marco Polo allegedly came here during this time, journaling about things he saw. Polo referred to the city as "Zaytan," which is where we get the word "satin" from.

Zheng He, the legendary eunuch Chinese explorer/trader in the early 1400s sailed through this city, making stops at the many Islamic mosques before sailing on to Malaysia, India, the Middle East, and eventually down the coast of Africa. His fleet, often numbering over 60 ships and 25,000 men, traded for Persian spices and herbs used for Chinese Medicine and exotic animals like giraffes, exchanging them for silks and porcelain. The treasure fleet opened ports near Sumatra and gained nominal authority of "all under heaven" for the Dragon Throne of the Ming Emperor. This picture roughly shows the size of one of the main Treasure Fleet vessels. The other ship is Columbus' Santa Maria.

More Pictures! Yeah, I know...It's Been a While.